Just an innocent suggestion
by Atlantislux
Summary: Fifteen years before someone made a terrible mistake, changing Earl forever. What if. Oneshot. Set after episode 22


_**Disclaimer and Notes**: Mai Otome belongs to Sunrise.  
Set after episode 22.__  
I wrote this on a whim, for a friend who would have liked the story to end in a very different way. ;-)  
All thing considering this could be a plot bunny for a future "What if" story, if I'll ever have the time to write it. This is for sure a development that I've rarely seen around. Yes... what if Artai had won the war? Oh... my...  
Betareading by Kevin.  
_

* * *

**Just an innocent suggestion**

_Artai, year 15th after the Reconquista of the Garderobe  
From the journal of Brigadier General Sergay Wang_

I used to love the snowy nights, but not anymore.  
They will always remind me of Nina's wedding dress, black and silver, over-the-top, and decorated with little diamonds and obsidian crystals that had turned her into one the malevolent ice faeries of our obscure legends. At first I thought it was too funereal for the occasion and inappropriate for Windbloom weather but then, considering that she was going to become also the Queen of Artai, I realized that it was more than fitting.

After so many years, an aching pain still sears my throat when I think of Nina's face after that frigid ceremony, as distant as the blue star that shines upon us. Because only then did I finally understand that her love for me was deeper than what was reasonable for a daughter towards her father. Hers was the look of a betrayed lover and, even while her eyes blazed with fury, she bowed, thanking me for all I had done for her.  
_  
She was grateful because I had put her in a cage even smaller than the previous one. How ironic._

I wished I could turn back time, and erase my rash words, suggestion Nagi to reveal to the world that Nina was the true Queen of Windbloom. But when I spoke I was scared, I was injured, and I had just discovered that they were using Rena's body to empower the Valkyries.  
Did I do it because I didn't want Nina to use the Harmonium again? Or because I was desperately trying to spare Rena the last abuse?  
Memories fail me when I try to remember the chain of thought that led me to mutter that reckless advice to the Archduke. But I have not forgotten the devious look he gave me, and his words. 'This is something I had not considered, but it could work. Somehow.'  
_  
Somehow._

Nagi petrified me. And he crushed me a few days later, when Nina was legally recognized by the Council as the Queen of Windbloom and restored to the throne. I wasn't her father anymore, nor she was my child. 'Nina' wasn't even her real name, she became Mashiro Blan De Windbloom, so I couldn't complain when Nagi declared his intention to marry her, as their families had planned long before they were born.  
I still remember my sense of gloom when the Archduke congratulated me for that simple, innocent suggestion, recognizing I had given him everything he wanted without a fight. Windbloom was no longer invaded but protected by Artai's armies, and who would have dared to move against the legitimate Queen, the one who also wielded the ultimate power of the Harmonium? According to the law, we hadn't broken any rule.  
Only Annam and Aries vividly protested, but the rest of the nations aligned with us for they had everything to gain. Indeed, when the Garderobe was torn apart, piece by piece, as the first act of a Queen who was regaining control of her kingdom, they watched, quietly waiting for those bits to be distributed. And it happened, changing our world forever.

Now, fifteen years later, I'm here in Artai's spaceport, waiting for the private shuttle to land. As I write this journal, people pass by, and I'm well aware of their condescending looks. I lost my right leg protecting the girl I used to call my daughter from an Aswald kamikaze attack, but I refused to have it substituted with a cybernetic limb. They are powered by nanomachine technology and, even if they're in widespread use now, I can't tolerate having those things in my body. Not when Rena, Nina, and Arika, and so many other poor women suffered so much to obtain that power; they fought for an ideal that, with my näive proposal, was annihilated in a few short months.  
I respect it, even if I think that the world is a better place today, where the technology is no longer a secret, and those who oppose us are nothing but a shabby group of terrorists lead by the former Queen of Windbloom and Natsuki Kruger of the disbanded Five Pillars. But they are just relics of a world that's disappearing, as am I.  
And so, sometimes, I'm sad for what I've contributed to crush. Like when I cross Nina's look that, through the years, had grown from sad to remote. I did it to save her but, honestly, I can't say I've made her happy. She's carrying perfectly her duties as a Queen, pure and regal, accepting the gentle indifference of her husband, who is treating her better than I expected but without any affection. They get along reasonably well, probably because they are growth knowing that they would have had to live together, as a Master and his Otome, and a marriage it's not that different, all things considering.

I saw them truly happy only once, and the reason will appear from that door in minutes. It's the first time that the twins are visiting Artai, and they'll live here from now on because the frozen lands of my country are safer than the deserts of Windbloom, so easy to cross.  
They have their mother's jet black hair, and their father's striking scarlet eyes, eyes that already conceal a knowledge that surpasses their age. The twins will be the most powerful people on Earl, for they will inherit one of the world's biggest kingdoms, and the power to activate the Harmonium.  
The thought scares me, but when I look at their faces, so similar to Nina's at their age, I can't help but think that they are a consequence of my innocent suggestion too. All my doubts and guilt evaporate, because I have been offered the chance to pay off my debts; Nina entrusted me with their education and she prayed for me to protect them, and I swear I won't disappoint her.

___Not again._


End file.
